Remembering
by kanameouji
Summary: While Goku and Sanzo go do "laundry" Hakki and Gojyo are remembering when they first noticed that the couple loved each other. GokuxSanzo dont like then dont read


Disclaimer, I don't own any of the Saiyuki characters.

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It was a beautifully sunny day, with shafts of golden light filtering through the elegant, tall trees. They really should be on their way, the group of four, but were instead enjoying themselves on the peaceful morning, Hakkai drinking a freshly brewed cup of tea, Sanzo smoking and reading the morning paper, Gojyo sprawled out across Jeep, and Goku, munching on the last traces of breakfast thoughtfully. With a cough, Sanzo set his paper down, removing his glasses and standing up.

"I'm going to go do the laundry." He announced around his cigarette, pushing unruly golden bangs from his violet eyes rather absent-mindedly.

Goku perked up almost immediately. "Oh, well I'll come with you!" he replied, getting to his feet.

Sanzo rolled his eyes. "Finish your food first. That's disgusting."

Goku scowled. "Well put out your stupid cigarette!" he growled in response. "I ain't kissin-er-…" he broke off awkwardly, blushing a light shade of red and swallowing his mouthful of food. Busted.

Grinning, Gojyo sat up. "Aha, so-YAAH! What the hell?!" he cried out, yelping as the monk extinguished his cigarette on the crimson-haired man's arm.

"Not another word." Sanzo warned, flicking ashes onto the ground.  
"Ow! Jeez! If you've marred my beautiful skin-"

"C'mon. Damn monkey." Sanzo muttered, setting off with Goku close behind.

Hakkai chuckled. "Nice to see them getting along so well, eh, Gojyo?"

Gojyo scowled. "Well they don't have to be so damned secretive about it. As if we don't know what they're up to by now. I mean, shit, they even forgot to bring the laundry with them this time." He tapped the basket lightly with his foot.

"Well, it isn't often that Sanzo is in the mood you know." Hakkai remarked, shrugging. "So when given the chance, Goku is all over it. Oh, and he tells me it's well worth the wait." The man merely grunted in response. A small silence ensued, during which they could hear the splashing of water, mixed in with light moans that increased in volume with each passing second.

"Hakkai, when did you first know he loved him?" Gojyo asked abruptly.

"When who loved whom?" the dark-haired man replied. "After all, they didn't both always love each other." The redheaded youkai shrugged.

"Sanzo then."  
"Ah. That was quite some time ago." Hakkai gave a small sigh of contentment. "Back before we began our journey…"

*~*~*

"…A bucket of chocolate?" the golden-haired priest clapped a hand to his head, sighing. "Whose dumb-ass idea was this?"

"That would be mine." Hakkai answered sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "The store gave me quite a lot of chocolate bars for free since they were all melting…"

"And you decided to bring it all to the monkey." The pair watched a young Goku lap greedily at it.

"Yes. In a bucket." Hakkai mused, a hint of laughter in his voice.

"Oh, so you think this is funny?" Sanzo demanded, glaring.

"Well…"

"By the gods!" he threw his hands up, frustrated.

Now Goku glanced over at them, golden eyes alert. "Hey, Sanzo." He finally said cautiously.

Sanzo raised a perfect brow. "What now?"

"Y'wanna try some?" he asked innocently, blinking at the older man. Gojyo chuckled from the armchair in the corner, giving the first sign that he hadn't become a statue.

"Aw. He wants to share with you. How sweet." Though his accompanying snickers shattered the nicety of the statement.

Sanzo glared. "You shut up. Or I'll blow your damn head off."

"Tsk. Try it. You couldn't shoot a bunny rabbit."

"Is that a challenge?" Sanzo's hands fairly itched for the feeling of the gun's smooth metal in his hand. But Hakkai's voice drew him back to the present.

"Ah, Goku, you shouldn't-!" Sanzo turned just in time to see the monkey running towards him, holding out the bucket, then trip over some unseen object in his way and stumble; resulting in half of the contents of the container to be sloshed over Sanzo's newly cleaned robes.

For a moment, he just stood there, sopping, splotches of chocolate decorating his body. He raised his head, eyes alight with rage, to glare daggers at the poor youkai. "Goku…" And imagine Sanzo's surprise when he felt the boy's tongue on his forehead. He stumbled backwards, cursing.

"…the hell?! What do you think you're doing you damn monkey?!"

Goku looked up at him with an innocent determination. "I made ya all messy, so now I'm gunna clean the chocolate offa ya." Gojyo burst into tears as he laughed, eyes closed in his merriment. Sanzo shot another glare (my, he seemed to have a lot of those today) at Gojyo.

"Why you…! Just you wait 'til I-" and again he was cut off by the brown-haired boy's idea of cleaning, this time on the tip of his nose. "Gh!" he made a strange noise and fell over onto his rear on the floor, staring up at the boy, who looked down on him with the air of a small child.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked, blinking.

"I just told you! Normal people don't lick other people!"

"Then how're they supposed t'get clean…?"

Sanzo groaned. "Oh, you can't be serious…"

"He just came from a cave, Sanzo. He doesn't know any better." Hakkai explained quietly. Sanzo closed his eyes, sighing loudly.

"Okay, look monkey, you just don't go around licking people, okay? It's not right. Any normal person would balk at the very idea."

"But I'm not normal, Sanzo." Well, there was certainly no arguing in that. Sanzo stood, noticing that the boy's arms and chin were wet with the chocolate, since he'd nearly dived into the damn bucket. He put a hand on the boy's shoulder, turning him in the direction of the bath.

"Go wash yourself. When you're done, come back and get me so I can have my turn."

"'Kay." Goku stared up at Sanzo, unmoving.

"What now?!" he asked, a bit impatiently.

Goku shrugged. "I missed a spot." He replied, before leaning up and licking along the man's lips. With that, he gave a carefree smile and skipped along the hallway to the bath, leaving a stunned, slightly blushing Sanzo and two youkai behind to stare after him.

*~*~*

Gojyo nodded. "I remember that. Honestly, that was the first time?"

"Yes." Hakkai smiled. "I just knew somehow. Goku's actions could be explained away, with all that 'small children don't know better' stuff, but Sanzo? Blushing? Ne, he had to have been feeling something."

The crimson-haired youkai lit up a cigarette. "Yeah, I guess. I didn't realize it then, though."

"When did you realize it, Gojyo?"

Gojyo leaned back, looking up at the sky. "Well…"

*~*~*

It was in the middle of a desperate battle. Youkai surrounding them on all sides. It seemed as if they would never stop coming. Each member of the group was busy saving himself, focusing entirely on their own survival, forgetting even that they were fighting together.

Goku leaned on nyoi-bo a second, catching his breath. He hadn't fought for this long in a while, and he was quite eager to continue on. But during that brief, brief pause, even though it was only for an instant, he dropped his guard. And a particularly cunning youkai took the opportunity.

Gojyo was on the other side of the field entirely, so when he looked up and saw the attack, he thought it was too late. He assumed the worst. But before he could even call out the youngest boy's name completely, there was the sound of a gunshot. Sanzo. And Gojyo realized that while Sanzo had been protecting himself, he'd also been keeping an eye on the monkey. Which was why he had the most injuries out of the four of them.

"Nice shot." Goku said, looking up.

Sanzo scowled. "Yeah? Well I won't always be here to save your ass. So watch yourself." They both stood and moved so that they were back-to-back, apparently ready for anything the demons could throw at them.

"Liar." Goku replied, whacking a youkai over the head with his red pole. "You're a terrible liar, Sanzo."

Sanzo merely smirked. "Don't I know it…" he said quietly.

*~*~*

Hakkai looked surprised. "That happened?" he asked, peering at Gojyo, the latter of which nodded.

"Yeh." He answered, exhaling a long puff of smoke. "You were too busy defending yourself to notice."

"Oh my. I'm sorry I missed that." Hakkai sighed, shaking his head sadly. "It sounded nice."

"What is it about the two of them that you like so much?" Gojyo asked, still sprawled over the automobile quite carelessly. Jeep seemed to be the only member ready to go at the moment. "What is it about their love that you enjoy watching?"

Hakkai glanced at Gojyo, and then looked away. "Ne, Gojyo. I don't think you'd understand…"

"Try me."

"Well…" he shrugged. "It's just that something like that would seem impossible, you know? And yet they make it work." A small smile found its way across his lips. "And even though they don't admit it, it's plain to see that they love each other with every fiber of their being. It's nice to see two people so in love."

Gojyo nodded slowly. "That makes sense…" Another pause. Breathy moans came from the lake area. Gojyo took a long drag on his cigarette. "So what about Goku?"

"What do you mean what about Goku?"

"When did you know that he loved Sanzo?"

Hakkai laughed. "There are way too many ways for me to pick just one."

"Which one stood out the most…?" Hakkai tapped a finger to his chin thoughtfully a moment before replying.

"Ah. I remember…"

*~*~*

"Pass me the soap."

Splash, splash…

"Will someone pass me the goddamn soap?!"

Gojyo scowled and thrust the bar at Sanzo. "Damn! Don't shit yourself, Sanzo!"

"Some of us actually like being clean." The monk snapped, snatching it from the youkai's hand.

Hakkai sighed. Ah, the joys of public baths…

"I can't believe we all hafta wash together…" Goku muttered, his back to the rest of them as he scrubbed at his feet, adding in an undertone, "I can't believe we have to wash at all…"

Sanzo looked at Goku, mouth twisted in a frown. "Yeah, well this is the only soap we have. It's your damn fault for not buying more than one." He stood, walking over to Goku, turning over a bucket so he could sit on it, behind the boy.

"What're you doing?" Goku demanded suspiciously, glancing over his shoulder. Sanzo turned the boy's head back around to face the wall. "If I let you do this yourself, you're obviously going to do it wrong. So just shut up and let me wash you." He lathered some soap onto his slim hands and rubbed them over the boy's back.

"Ah, lemme go Sanzo! I can do it myself!"

"You and I both know you can't. So sit back down and let me get this over with."

"Sanzzzoooooo…" the boy had resorted to pleading. But the whines fell on deaf ears. The monk continued scrubbing the boy; not too roughly as one may have expected, but in a rather pleasant manner. After a few minutes, Goku gave up his cries and settled for silence. The only sound was their breathing.

The two seemed to have forgotten all about Gojyo and Hakkai. They appeared to be in a world all their own. It held the other two transfixed, enraptured by the simply erotic task that the golden-haired monk had set upon. After Sanzo washed the suds from the boy's hair, back, and chest, Goku broke the sweet silence.

"I can get the rest myself…" he muttered quietly.

Sanzo stood, handing the soap to the boy. "Then do it." He replied.  
Goku looked up at Sanzo, and for a moment, Hakkai's heart stopped. The boy's expression, with half-closed eyes, spoke of so many things: longing, heartache, sadness, depression… but above all, love. In the boy's gaze there was an unwavering affection that seemed to plead even louder than the monkey had verbally just a few moments ago, pleading Sanzo not to leave, not to stop touching him. Hakkai swore that Goku was about to kiss him. But instead, he looked back down and started scrubbing his legs, while Sanzo turned to them, lighting up a cigarette.

"What the hell are you two staring at?"

"You're not supposed to smoke in the bath, you idiot!" Gojyo offered finally before turning back to his own hygienical needs. But as Hakkai rinsed water over himself, he never forgot the way that Goku had looked at the other man. With an emotion so clear…

*~*~*

"I don't remember that!" Gojyo exclaimed.

"You don't…? Sanzo was making such a big deal about not having enough soap…"

"No, that's not what I meant… I mean…" The man with the cigarette scratched the back of his head, trying to conjure up words to describe what he did mean. "I meant that I didn't remember that part with Goku. Looking up at Sanzo like that." He replied finally, relaxing. "All I saw was Goku glaring at him."

Hakkai shrugged sadly. "I told you that you wouldn't understand." He sighed, rather forlornly.

This caused the redheaded man to raise a brow. "Well, don't you want to hear about when I knew Goku loved Sanzo…?"

*~*~*

Goku was still a very young boy. They had yet to set out upon their journey. In fact, the brown-haired youth had come from the cave no longer than a month ago.

Sanzo always let Goku sleep in. The monk would wake, smoke, read the newspaper, much as he had on the morning that Hakkai and Gojyo were discussing all this, and then go meditate for a while, or deal with unruly monks that were in the temple. When he left, Goku was still on the floor (for he wouldn't let Sanzo out of his sight, and the monk refused to sleep in the same bed with him), so Sanzo assumed that he slept until the monks rang the breakfast bell. At the sound of that chime, the boy was down the stairs faster than you could say "Rise and Shine!". But in fact, he got up only a short amount of time after Sanzo left. And Gojyo was the only one who knew this.

He had discovered it by chance, wandering up one morning after Sanzo had risen to see if the priest had left any cigarette packs lying around. After all, why buy cigarettes when you could get them at a five-finger discount?

Anyway, he'd gently entered the room, so as not to wake Goku, but was stunned to find the boy wide awake, on the balcony that extended outwards from the spacious room, throwing something into the lake below.

"What're you doing?" he asked suspiciously, forgetting completely about why he'd come there. His voice made the monkey jump and turn around quickly, as if he were guilty as charged. Though the red-haired youkai wasn't quite sure what he had done.

"'Mornin'…" he mumbled awkwardly.

"I asked what you were doing." Gojyo replied flatly. No way was he letting the monkey worm his way out of this one.

"Er… well… I was…"

"Spit it out." Gojyo demanded impatiently. "Before I tell Sanzo that you were the one who ate the food from the offering platter at the shrine."

Goku's cheeks flushed. "Fine! I'll tell you!" he looked away, at the ground, face still quite red. "I was throwin' stuff in the lake."

Well, that much had been apparent. But why? Gojyo intended to ask, but it came out as, "What were you throwing?"

Goku looked down at his hand, prompting Gojyo to slink over. It was a miniature elephant statue, hand-carved out of wood, and obviously done with care. "Elephants?" he asked incredulously. Goku merely nodded. "Why?" Gojyo asked, saying what he had meant to say from the beginning.

Goku stared hard at the elephant, as if staring at it could make Gojyo go away. "'Cause…"

"Because why?" Gojyo pressed further, determined to get to the heart of the matter.

Goku scowled up at him. "It's none of your business! Ero-kappa!"

"Watch your mouth." Gojyo warned. "Or I'll give Sanzo a whole list of bad things that you've done that he probably doesn't even know about."

Goku's eyes shut tight and he yelled at the man, shoulders tense. "I was making a wish! Okay?"

He hadn't been expecting that. "Wish…?"

"Yes. A wish. Now lemme alone." He cast the last carving into the lake and glared at Gojyo fiercely. Something came to the man's mind in a flash.

"…How many elephants did you throw in there?"

"…Three." Goku answered, reluctantly. And Gojyo understood.

"Aha. San- three – and zo- elephant -. You're praying for Sanzo?"

"Yes. No. Maybe. I don't know." He mumbled.

"Just tell me what you wished for!"

"…I can't."

Gojyo shook his head. "You have a mouth, don't you?"

"I said I can't! What if it doesn't come true?" The boy was on the verge of tears now.

The crimson-headed youkai blinked. Perhaps it was time for a different approach. "Hey, it's okay. You can tell me, Goku. I promise it'll still come true." He coaxed.

Goku sniffed. "Really…?"

"Really." The period was emphasized with a nod.

Taking a deep breath, Goku looked at his hands. "I was wishin'… for Sanzo. I wished that… I would be able to stay with him." He met Gojyo's gaze. "Forever."

"And… you do this every day?" A nod was the response. Of course, later Gojyo told Sanzo about this, and Sanzo had smacked the boy over the head with his harisen, scowling and saying, "You dumb ass! I'm not going anywhere!" And, reassured, Goku had stopped throwing elephants into the lake.

Hakkai smiled. "How sweet. I never knew Goku was so committed to him."

Gojyo merely shrugged, exhaling a cloud of smoke. "Been that way for a while."

Hakkai nodded in agreement, eyes glancing up at the sky. "Speaking of a while… Sanzo and Goku have been gone awfully long, don't you think?"

Gojyo snorted. "As expected. When Sanzo wants it, he wants it bad."  
"…Pray tell me, just what is it exactly that I want?" Sanzo's voice came, sharper than any dagger. The two men couldn't help but jump.

Yet, Gojyo shrugged it off with a carefree smirk. "Forgot your alibi this time, monk." Gesturing towards the laundry, eyes bright with mocking mirth.

"What…?" Sanzo's eye twitched, and he stared at the laundry, almost as if he were willing it away.

"Oh. Well, I guess we'll just have to go back then, huh?" Goku sighed in a terrible impression of someone who was disappointed. He ruined it when he licked his lips, and said in a hungry tone, "More laundry."

Sanzo glanced at him, and was about to speak when Gojyo said something instead. "Well, there's plenty of room in the back seat for 'laundry'." He exhaled a cloud of cigarette smoke at the priest, who scowled.

"There's no water." He said finally.

"Ah. So you need to have water to do it now? Kinky."

"No! The laundry, you idiot!" Of course, the blonde man couldn't hide the reddish tinge on his cheeks.

Gojyo laughed as Sanzo got in the front next to Hakkai, his customary spot, much to Goku's disappointment. He slid into the back. "Well, I hear there's this huge bath where we're going. People do everything in it. They do their laundry… they bathe…"

"They urinate…?" Sanzo asked dryly, as Jeep sped off into the sunset…


End file.
